More hospitals than ever in Michigan earned a top grade in a semi-annual report card on patient safety.

Six hospitals owned by Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health, including facilities in St. Joseph and Niles acquired with the recent merger of Lakeland Health, earned an “A” in the fall report card issued by The Leapfrog Group. So did Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Grand Rapids, Bronson Battle Creek and Sparrow Hospital & Health System in Lansing.

Overall, 32 of the 81 hospitals in the state graded in The Leapfrog Group’s latest report card earned an “A,” putting Michigan 11th in the nation for hospital patient safety. That compares with 24 in the spring 2018 report card, which ranked 24th nationally.

“Our goal is to be number one in the country for patient safety and the fall 2018 Hospital Safety Grades show we are on our way to being that,” said Bret Jackson, president of the Novi-based business-labor coalition Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM) that works with The Leapfrog Group. “The EAM and our members are committed to working together to make our state the safest in America.”

The Spectrum Health hospitals earning a top grade in the fall report were Spectrum Health Ludington, Pennock in Hastings, United in Greenville, Zeeland Community, and Lakeland Regional and Lakeland Community in Niles.

Twenty-two hospitals in the state earned a “B” for patient safety. They include Spectrum Health Big Rapids, Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, and Mercy Health’s Mercy and Hackley campuses in Muskegon.

Among the 26 hospitals to earn a “C” were Spectrum Health’s Butterworth campus in Grand Rapids and Blodgett in East Grand Rapids, plus Metro Health-University of Michigan in Wyoming, Sturgis Hospital, and Ascension Borgess in Kalamazoo.

One hospital in the state, Hurley Medical Center in Flint, received a “D.”

The Washington, D.C.-based Leapfrog Group uses 28 measures of publicly-available data to grade more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice a year.

“The Hospital Safety Grades give the American public information they need and deserve about the safety of their hospitals. Avoidable medical errors and infections in hospitals are still the third leading cause of death in the nation, and that’s not a partisan issue,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.